


Another Infamy

by LadyOfSnakes



Series: Shared Life Experiences [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Genre: Crossover, mentions of other Avengers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-05-05 14:40:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5378822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyOfSnakes/pseuds/LadyOfSnakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quiet conversation of remembrance and reflection.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Infamy

Steve Rogers tried to limit his public appearances as a rule. He’d had a few television interviews go disastrously, and had more or less tried to keep a low profile otherwise. But one thing he did every year was attend a service in Washington on December 7.

The invitation was quietly given through Sam, who said there was no pressure to attend. “This isn’t an Avengers thing. Steve, Rhodey, and I are going just as ourselves. I think Wanda wants to come, but only if she’s not on her own for it.”

Illya agreed. If nothing else, he could keep Wanda company. Her powers intimidated him, but she also reminded him of Gaby--so eager to make a difference.

The service was a solemn affair. Illya sat in the back with Wanda as they listened to the speakers. The men who spoke--most only a few years older than him--looked so small, so fragile. (He couldn’t imagine Napoleon looking like that. His partner had been more a force of nature than human.)

After the service, the other three were surrounded by veterans. Wanda sent Sam a text to let them know when it was time to go, and she and Illya left the conference hall.

It was a cold, blustery day, but they had bundled up appropriately. Illya turned his collar up against the wind and pulled his hat down a bit lower as they walked. “I know you have not lived here long. Have you been to the National Mall?”

“No,” she replied, and shook her head. “You lived near there, yes?”

“Not too far, just over in Maryland. Gaby and I would come to see the museums. I think I can be a tour guide, if you’d like.” Then Illya shrugged, smiling slightly. “I think I now know more about Washington D.C. than Solo ever did. He would tease me for it. ‘Peril, you won’t know a city from the books, you have to _live_ there.’”

He exaggerated an American accent as he mimicked his old partner, causing Wanda to giggle.

“He fought in the war, didn’t he? Your Solo?” The woman (though he was tempted to think of her as ‘girl’, she was so young) asked. “Steve’s war, I mean.”

Illya nodded, “Yes. He lied on his enlistment form and joined the Army when he was sixteen, a few days after he heard Captain America had died. He was barely in Europe for a few weeks when the war ended.”

They reached the Mall. In the winter it was not as impressive, lined with bare trees and the lawn patchy. At the far end was the giant Christmas tree, but they turned and walked towards the Washington Monument instead. There were fewer people that way.

After a few minutes, Wanda looked up at him and brushed her hair away from her face. “Do you remember Pearl Harbor, Illya?”

He shook his head, not meeting her eyes. “I was only a child, and had recently lost my father. I knew we were at war, but I don’t remember when I learned that the Americans had joined the fight. Solo mentioned once that when he heard it was as if his world had been shaken apart. I didn’t understand what that was like until much later.”

“I understand that.” Wanda tilted her head back further, to look up at the grey sky. “It is like how I know 9/11 was a tragedy, but I don’t remember it, even though I was eleven years old. My country had been tearing itself apart for years by then.”

“And now there are Americans younger than you who don’t remember it either, but do remember when the sky opened and aliens rained down on them.”

"True." She tugged at her scarf, covering more of her ears that were turning red. "And the children in Sokovia remember the day the city was lifted into the sky."

They stopped walking as Wanda’s phone chirped. She checked it quickly, then looked back up at him. “Sam says they’re ready to go. We should head back.”

On their way back to the convention hall, they were walking into the wind. They pulled their coats tighter around themselves and didn’t speak for most of the walk. Finally, just outside the building, they spotted their teammates, still chatting with some of the old vets.

Illya frowned. “Soon, Steve and Barnes will be the only ones who remember it at all, except from the history books. Then something else terrible will happen and that will be everyone’s new day of infamy. I'm afraid of what could come next.”

“That’s what we’re here for.” Wanda replied after a moment. “To try and stop it. Keep the sleeping giants sleeping.”

“I suppose,” Illya said, watching Steve shake one more old man’s hand, “we will have to do.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in one sitting after a conversation with my younger sister about how we remember 9/11 very differently. It also originally had 600 words about the Vietnam Nurses Memorial.
> 
> While I'm considering this canon, I don't think it will have much effect on Shared Life Experiences.


End file.
